Switch-tongue for railroad-switches and mates



(No Model.)

D. P. CARVER. 'SWITGH TONGUE FOR RAILROAD SWITCHES AND MATES.

Patented Apr. 28, 1895..

A TTORNE Y S.

WITNESSES;

DAVID FREDERICK CARVER, OF BROOKLYN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHNCROSBIE BRAOKENRIDGE, OF RICHMOND HILL, NEW YORK.

' SWITCH-TONGUE FOR RAILROAD-SWITCHES AND MATES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 538,098, dated April23, 1895.

Application filed February 19, 1895. Serial No. 53 8 ,931. (N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, DAVID FREDERICK OAR- VER, of Brooklyn,in the countyof Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and ImprovedSwitch-Tongue for Railroad- Switches and Mates, of which the followingis a full, clear, and exact description.

The invention has for its object to provide a switch tongue so broadenedat its base as to possess increased strength and stability and enablethe curved lead switches, the tongues and the transition curves, to beconstructed of much greater radii than is practicable with tongues ofordinary form, and a further object is to construct the tongues so as toresist and as far as may be overcome certain destructive strainsincident to the operation of switches as ordinarily constructed.

The invention consists in the novel features hereinafterparticularlydescribed and defined in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar letters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a broken plan view of a switch embodying my invention. Figs.2 to 7 are cross sections respectively on lines 2-2, 3-3,'

44, 5-5, 66, and 7-7 in Fig. 1; and Figs. 8 and 9 are respectively crosssections taken through myimproved tongue at about the center and throughthe ordinary tongue at a corresponding point, the views being given toshow the comparative resistance to the lateral strain due to thecentrifugal force exerted by the wheel flanges.

The improved tongue Ais formed with lateral substantially rectangularflanges b c at the base, one on each side of the tongue, and theseflanges extend any required distance along the tongue from the pin 01,and the side edges of the flanges may converge to the lines of lead, asshown, or be parallel thereto, and may be of the depth required bydifferent traffic conditions. In the drawings, Fig. 1, one side edgea'is curved and converges to the'adjacent curved lead a of the tongue,and the opposite side edge a is straight and converges to the adjacentstraight lead a of. the tongue. Preferably the flanges are given such alength and breadth as give the tonguea contact along its whole lengthwith either the guard rail a or the running rail 0. of switch a,according to which side of the switch the tongue is thrown. The innersurfaces of the rails 0. er and the opposed side surfaces of the tongueflanges are vertical.

In practice it is intended that the distance between the top of theflanges b c and the tread of the tongue will correspond as near as maybe with the depth of the flange e of the wheel E. In this way theflanges serve the purpose of partly receiving the weight as will appearfrom Fig. 5, and thus relieving the tread of the tongue atthe pointswhere, due to length of radii, the tread of the tongue is less than thetread of the imposed wheel E, as for instance in position shown in Fig.5. A further result of the presence of the flanges b a will appear fromFig. 7 where the square represented by the dotted lines f indicates thecross section of the ordinary tongue at the pin d, which form gives aminimum of material at this point, necessitating the use of a small pin;also, with this old cross section the greatest wear will occur near thecorner h. With my improved base the pin may be larger and the centerline of downward force will be nearer the transverse center of thetongue owing to the addition of the material represented in thisinstance by the right hand flange c, which gives a more evendistribution of the weight, thus diminishing the weight and reducing thebending action brought to bear on the pin d. Further, with a tonguehaving the ordinary cross section, the middle portion of the tongue, sayat a point represented by line 44 or 55 in Fig. 1, the tongue, when noneof the weight of a car is imposed thereon, is required to withstand aresultant destructive force around a point, as i, see Figs. 8 and 9, asa center, and in a direction represented by the curved arrow in Fig. 9,and is as a beam braced against lateral strain at its ends only, so thatit must yield to a lateral bending strain in addition to the rocking ortorsional one. With my improved tongue, under like conditions, asindicated in Fig. 8, the tendency to radial motion and lateral bendingis counteracted by the flange b pressing against the flange e of theWheel E, and the centrifugal force exerted by the passing car isdirectly horizontal and ICC is evenly distributed against the abuttingrail at the opposite side of the tongue along the surface ac-cc in Fig.8. Thus the tongue possesses complete lateral stability from end to endand is consequently held rigidly in any given position.

By the use of this improved tongue, its increased strength makes itpossible to construct curved lead switches and mates of much largerradii than at present, and to employ tongues of greater length than atpresent. Therefore the improved tongue makes possible the use oftransition curves of larger radii at any switch, and it effects notonlya saving in wear upon the tongues of switches and mates,but reducestoa mimirnum the damaging side strains on the running gear and rollingstock caused by running around the curved lead of switches of smallradii.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent 1. The combination in a switch, of side rails anda-tongue, pivoted between said rails, and having flanges at the baseextending from the pivot end toward the point, and tapering toward thepoint, substantially as described.

2. The combinationin a switch of side rails, having their inner sidesvertical, and a tongue pivoted between said rails and having flanges atthe base, said flanges having vertical side walls adapted to contactwith the vertical walls of the side rails, substantially as described.

3. A tongue for switches and mates, the same having side flanges foronly a portion of its length, substantially as described.

4. A switch tongue having a flange along its curved lead, said flangeextending from the pivoted end of the tongue and terminating short ofthe point, substantially as described.

5. A switch tongue having a rectangular flange at its base, thehorizontal upper surface of the flange being adapted to receive a wheelflange, substantially as described.

6. A switch tongue having a rectangular flange at its base, adapted toreceive a wheel flange, said rectangular flange extending from the pivotend of the tongue toward the point, and tapering toward said point,substantially as described.

DAVID FREDERICK CARVER.

Witnesses:

C. SEDGWICK, J. L. MCAULIFFE.

